PETERSBURG
“The City of History, Homes and Gardens”
Sponsored by The Petersburg Garden Club
Tuesday, April 22, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Website: pgcvirginia.org
Chairman:
Mrs. Kay C. Wray (Mrs. Charles W.)
10651 Johnson Road
Petersburg, VA 23805
(804) 733-9988
Email: WPollard08@aol.com
Co-Chairman:
Mrs. Marilyn Walker (Mrs. Robert C.)
608 Rebel Ridge Road
Colonial Heights, VA 23834
(804) 530-3177
Email: swepersmom@aol.com
INFORMATION CENTER
The Petersburg Visitor Center
425 Cockade Alley at Old Street
Petersburg, VA 23803
(804) 733-2400
Toll-free (800) 368-3595
FULL TICKET: $25 includes all tour properties, gardens, refreshments, Siege Museum and Blandford Church. Single-house admission $10. Children 13 and older, full price; ages 6-12, half price; 5 and under, free of charge. Anyone 17 and younger must be accompanied by an adult or guardian. Tickets available on tour day at Visitor Center and at each tour site. Houses need not be visited in the order listed. As a courtesy to the homeowners, please no high heels, no interior photography or smoking.
ADVANCE TICKET SALES: Full tickets may be purchased in advance for $20 each at the locations listed below until Monday, April 21. By mail: Send your request for tickets, no later than April 11 with a check, made payable to the Petersburg Garden Club, to Mrs. Charles W. Wray, 10651 Johnson Road, Petersburg, VA 23805. Enclose a stamped, self-addressed, business-size envelope. For an additional charge, tickets may be ordered with a credit card by accessing www.VAGardenweek.org.
ADVANCE TICKET SALES:
The Petersburg Visitor Center
425 Cockade Alley at Old Street
Petersburg, VA 23803
(804) 733-2400
Toll-free (800) 368-3595
Purple Passion
29 West Bank Street
Petersburg, VA 23803
(804) 863-1943
Palmore Decorating Center
1927 South Sycamore Street
Petersburg, VA 23805
(804) 732-8181
Windows ‘N’ Walls
1901 Boulevard
Colonial Heights, VA 23834
Boulevard Flower Gardens at Ruffin Mill
2100 Ruffin Mill Road
Colonial Heights, VA 23834
(804) 526-4000
REFRESHMENTS: The annual tea will be served at Centre Hill Mansion.
SPECIAL EVENTS: Several special events will take place during
the tour: #1: 132 S. Adams St.:
a demonstration on small-garden planning and plantings, 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and
3 p.m., given by members of The Petersburg Garden Club.
#2: 104 Marshall St.: cello recital by Harry Smith,
11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
#3: 18 Marshall St.: a demonstration of container
gardening, 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., given by members of The Petersburg
Garden Club.
#4: 1545 S. Sycamore St: lunchtime fashion
show (see luncheon section)
LUNCHEON: The Cockade City Garden Club will sponsor a Luncheon and Fashion Show on Tuesday, April 22, at Christ and Grace Episcopal Church, 1545 South Sycamore St., $10. A seated or take-out lunch is available from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a continuous fashion show accompanied with piano music by Oliver Pamplin. The fashion show will be conducted by Ann’s Dress Shoppe, Waverly, Virginia. The “special needs” entrance is located at the rear of the church. Proceeds from the luncheon will be donated to the Historic Blandford Cemetery Foundation to help with repairs to the cemetery’s ironwork and tombstones. For meal reservations, send a check for $10 each, payable to the Cockade City Garden Club, P.O. Box 501, Petersburg, VA 23804. For additional information, call Edith M. Sheffield at (804) 732-3822.
DIRECTIONS: From I-95, take exit 52, Washington St. Travel three blocks west, turn right on N. Adams St. Parking lot for CENTRE HILL is across from police station at the corner of E. Tabb St. and N. Adams. Tour maps and information are available at Centre Hill. Leaving CENTRE HILL parking lot, turn right onto N. Adams, cross over Washington St., proceeding on S. Adams St. From this point, the walking tour begins. Parking is available at the IGA Supermarket on S. Adams St. and also in Duncan Brown School parking lot adjacent to the IGA parking lot. Street parking is available as well. After parking, walk left onto S. Adams St., crossing over Wythe St. The first house is 126 S. Adams. The next stop is the garden at 132 S. Adams St. Continuing, the next home is 134 S. Adams. Two doors down is 142 S. Adams. Turn left onto Marshall St.; 104 is on your immediate right. Upon leaving, take a left on Marshall St. toward S. Sycamore St.; 18 Marshall St. will be on your left. Upon leaving, take a left toward S. Sycamore St. At the corner, turn left and Trinity United Methodist Church will be on your left. At this point, the walking portion of the tour is concluded. Proceed from Trinity Church, turn left onto S. Sycamore St. Travel approximately 1 mile to W. Tuckahoe St., turn right, go one block, and turn left onto Fairfax St. Travel one block and go right onto Arch Circle. The Marie Bowen Garden is on the right. Properties need not be visited in the order listed.
CENTRE HILL MANSION MUSEUM, 1 Centre Hill Court. Centre
Hill has been called a “symbol of the grandeur that characterized the
aristocracy of Virginia in the 19th century.” Completed in 1823,
the stately house was built in the Federal style by Robert Bolling IV. Subsequent
owners of Centre Hill, in keeping with their social status, remodeled the
house according to the dictates of fashion. In the 1840s, the residence
was updated by Robert Buckner Bolling to incorporate elaborate Greek Revival
decorative elements.
In 1901, new owner Charles Davis added Colonial Revival-style architectural
elements to the interior. In 1937, the Davis family sold the house to
W.J. Miller. Fearing that Miller would demolish the house, Edgar S. Bowling
purchased Centre Hill from Miller and donated the property to the National
Park Service in honor of his wife, the former Joe Claiborne McIllwaine of Petersburg. Following
its use as a Red Cross headquarters during World War II, the government deeded
Centre Hill to the Petersburg Museum Corporation. The Corporation in
1972 then conveyed the house and grounds to the City of Petersburg with the
stipulation that the house be used as a museum. Following the transfer
of ownership, The Garden Club of Virginia restored the grounds of the house
with proceeds from Historic Garden Week. Today, the interior of Centre
Hill is furnished with decorative arts from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries;
some are original to the house.
Two United States presidents have visited Centre Hill. After the fall
of Petersburg to Union troops, President Abraham Lincoln came here on April
3, 1865 and met with the Union general who was occupying the mansion. On May
19, 1909, President William H. Taft, who was in Petersburg to dedicate a Civil
War monument, was a guest of honor at Centre Hill. Following a luncheon
at the house, Taft addressed throngs of people who gathered on the north lawn. In
2003, this location was officially named the Taft Lawn in recognition of his
visit. Together, city officials and garden club members have restored
this site to its early 20th century appearance.
Fashionably Dressed at Centre Hill Mansion: Attire from the 1820s to the Early 1900s consists of more than 25 examples of men's, women's and children's clothing displayed in Centre Hill's period room settings. Highlights include an 1885 gold silk jacquard evening dress worn by Otelia Mahone, wife of Senator William Mahone, to a New Year's Eve ball in Paris, France. A man's at-home dressing gown outfit from the 1840s as well as women's at-home clothing and undergarments and children's clothing from the 1880s to early 1900s are also featured. The exhibition will be on view until May 11, 2008.
Petersburg—126 South Adams Street
126 SOUTH ADAMS STREET. A brass plaque prominently
affixed to the front façade of this historic residence affirms
that it was originally the home of Nora F.M. Davidson, a charter member of
the Ladies Memorial Association—an association honoring the Civil War
soldiers fallen on Petersburg’s battlefields—and originator of
Memorial Day. The Confederate School occupied this house for 45 years
with Davidson and her sister as principal and teacher, respectively. For
the past seven years, this brick, Federal-style dwelling has been home to
Charles J. Hampton-Snow and Henery Daniels. Though the house has been
renovated, reconfigured and enlarged, it is noteworthy that in a 175-year-old
structure, the original glass panes in all sashes remain intact. The
3000-square-foot residence is appreciably appointed with decorative arts
and accessories. Glassware, ceramics, pottery, porcelain and other
collectibles are displayed throughout the house in some seven china cabinets
and curios. The residence houses an extensive and varied original art
collection, some pieces acquired, others inherited from the owner’s
mother Evelyn Snow, once an antiques dealer in New York, who inspired Hampton-Snow
in his love of fine furnishings and decorating. The downstairs half-bath
alone boasts 15 pieces of art. Renderings of Venice in oil by Pergal
hang above the mantels in both the living room and adjacent sitting room,
affectionately named “The Mary Jane Howell Room” for a former
neighbor. From her estate, the homeowners were gifted a mirror and
a decorative Chippendale cabinet, probably used for liquor. A spellbinding,
contemporary landscape in oil dominates the dining room from its featured
space above the mantel.
Chandeliers are the preferred lighting in the home and contribute to
an ambience of glitz and grace. Neoclassical elements—busts, plaques,
sculpture and furniture design—scattered throughout the house lend a
formality but not a stiffness to the interior. Prominent is a collection
of jesters and harlequins in various forms: as dolls, figurines and manikins,
in glass, porcelain and paintings, and on plates. Similarly, Venice
Carnival masks are on display in the guest bedroom.
The cozy, intimate rear balcony, just outside the second-floor master
bedroom, offers a bird’s eye view of the garden. A pedestaled urn
rests at the garden’s center on a grassy plot shaped like a trefoil. The
perimeter of the garden is planted with a variety of evergreens, flowering
shrubs, perennials and annuals. Charles J. Hampton-Snow and Henery Daniels,
owners.
132 SOUTH ADAMS STREET (Garden). Japanese holly,
mahonia, lariope and oak leaf hydrangea welcome guests at the Adams Street
sidewalk and beckon into a more extensive garden that lies behind an antique
garden gate. The iron gate opens into a mature garden with a profusion
of plants commingled. Plants encroach on the brick footpath in this close
garden bounded by high brick walls and the north face of the house. Branches
of japonica, fig, and cedar trees reach out to brush against the shoulders
of garden visitors. Along the way, passion plants cling to trellises.
English boxwood line much of the pathway. Rhododendron, fern, hosta
and acuba fill the widths of the garden under the canopy of a massive black
locust tree. Midway, the garden path, a decorative circle of slate and
a birdbath signal a place of repose: a stone bench met by stepping stones. The
brick path opens onto a larger medallion-shaped brick patio, decorated with
container plants and shaded by dogwood. A pair of four-foot, cast-iron
urns and a working fountain frame the ends of the patio. The homeowners
can also enjoy their garden from either a balcony or a deck. The property
ends at the carriage house wall against which leans a pair of sasanquas. Mr. and Mrs.
Charles H. Cuthbert, Jr., owners. A demonstration on small-garden
planning and plantings will be held here at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., given
by members of The Petersburg Garden Club.
134 SOUTH ADAMS STREET. Bonny and Ben Greenbaum
live in the midst of history. For eleven and a half years, this couple
has owned one of the oldest homes in Historic Old Towne Petersburg. Built
in 1832, the two-story row house conveys a dignity befitting its age, owing
to the character of old brick and windows dressed with dark shutters. Mellow
maize trim softens stately dentil molding, fluted pilasters and columns.
Petersburg is a satisfying location for Mr. Greenbaum, a Civil War enthusiast.
In addition to Civil War-era collectibles, the homeowners appreciate and collect
other furnishings with historic value: early American pieces and World
War II sentimental memorabilia. Their formal rooms are decorated with
period furnishings, including a Connecticut clock from the mid-19th century
and American and Danish oil paintings from that same era. The homeowners
prize their collection of Japanese Hina dolls, whose faces and hands are made
of oyster shells. Antique clay dolls, also Japanese, are displayed throughout
the house. Prominently featured in the dining room are Japanese prints
that also deliver a history lesson. Mr. Greenbaum’s father, stationed
in Okinawa in World War II, received these prints as well as two kimonos from
a Japanese doctor during wartime. At the rear of the house
is a guest bedroom with a fireplace, formerly slave quarters, later joined
to the main structure in 1880s. A striking shell in relief is carved
on the mantel facing. Below this bedroom was formerly the detached kitchen,
now a study, reached by a spiral staircase. A 19th century Chinese cupboard,
painted with birds and flowers, is well-suited to a new, upstairs kitchen with
a cheerful yellow and white décor.
Visible from the kitchen windows is a “Charleston Garden,” only
12 feet wide at points. The garden runs alongside the house from the
gate on S. Adams Street to a brick wall, a backdrop for plantings and a small
fountain at the rear of the property. A comfortable resting spot is along
an L-shaped porch on the home’s south side. In the garden, brick pavers
provide a foundation for seating arrangements among boxwood, holly, azalea,
rhododendron, camellia, and acuba. Bonny and Ben Greenbaum, owners.
142 SOUTH ADAMS STREET. City assessors’ records
validate that this residence on the corner of Marshall and South Adams Streets
in the Poplar Lawn Historic District was built in 1856. The current
homeowners, originally from Iowa but attracted to Petersburg’s architecture
and history, have been diligently renovating the house for the past 18 months
and were drawn to its substantial interior molding and heart-pine floors. This
is the second property that these homeowners have renovated and opened for
Historic Garden Week in Petersburg in just four years.
The house has decidedly Victorian features: bracketed eaves, metal
roof cresting, bay window atop bay window, carved and scrolled brackets, and
a low, spindled railing around a shallow front porch. Entrance is through
no less than two pairs of arched, carved double doors, opening to the foyer
and the main staircase. The rooms, configured one behind the other, are
situated to the left of a central hall. Twelve-foot ceilings and floor-to-ceiling
windows create the romance of a by-gone era.
Massive pocket doors dramatically frame the entrance to the dining room. A
bay window enlarges the feel of this already sizeable room. Chair rail,
picture molding, and a paneled fireplace surround and mantel add formal detailing
to the room. On the fabric-covered walls of this dining room, Ms. Proctor
displays her grandmother’s wedding handkerchief. The couple describes
their decorating style as eclectic, as evident in their integration of contemporary
art and sculptural wall frieze with an antique furniture collection. They
have selected dark granite countertops for the kitchen to coordinate with this
area’s existing, original black marble fireplace surround and mantel. An
iron potrack commands the center of the room. Behind the kitchen and
the first-floor half- bath, the couple have transformed servants’ quarters
into a den. To the rear of the house, they have added a 20th century
architectural requisite: a deck. Adjacent to the deck through a
wooden gate is a rose garden. From a city sidewalk, passersby can glimpse
the garden through a wrought-iron fence. A rectangular pathway through
the garden is paved with brick. Two four-foot urns, which the homeowners
brought from Iowa, are placed on pea gravel at the center of the rose garden,
made tranquil by three murmuring fountains. Joyce Proctor and Amos Richardson,
owners.
104 MARSHALL STREET. Once again, exceptional
architecture and affordable prices have lured house-hunters to Petersburg,
thanks to the Internet. This couple, with roots in New York and the
Mid-West, has painstakingly restored and artfully decorated this 1870 brick
Italianate. The trim on the two-story house is painted in a multicolor
scheme, a trend that became popular in the late-Victorian period, c. 1885. The
porch columns and railings are teal, the balusters and mullions burgundy,
and the windowsills amethyst. All three colors are used to highlight
various details on the bracketed cornice. Forest green, the fourth
and dominant trim color, is painted on the numerous working shutters that
dress every window. The interior, in stark contrast to the Victorian
exterior, is Continental with a pleasing union of antique and contemporary
furnishings. The foyer establishes the character of the décor: a
formal maple secretary juxtaposed with a substantial, ornate Richmond mirror
transformed by a faux finish. Large, dramatic abstract paintings coexist
with 18th and 19th century oils, more prominent against a neutral palette. Antique
sofas and chairs are softened with plush, comfortable fabrics, pillows and
trim.
The couple’s passion for distinctive chairs is evident in room
after room. In the dining room, a Fredericksburg cupboard showcases the
couple’s collection of English chintzware. Most noticeable in the
kitchen are the original plank floors, a patchwork of boards, long with short,
umber with amber. The homeowners not only mix old with new but, in the
kitchen, also blend formal with informal: a French sideboard with a plate
rack and a farm table for dining grouped with formal side chairs. Outside
the kitchen door, an L-shaped porch mimics the color scheme of the front porch.
In the deep yet narrow backyard, two patios offer seating. Willow, maple,
dogwood, euonymous and ivy are planted along the periphery. Beverly Rivers
and Jeff Abugel, owners. A cello recital by Harry Smith will be
held here at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Harry, a sixth-grade student
at St. Christopher’s School in Richmond, is the son of Laraine Smith,
President of The Petersburg Garden Club.
18 MARSHALL STREET. Then and now, the owners of
18 Marshall Street have valued family. Built in 1855 as one of two
homes for the Ragland daughters, this house, located one-half block behind
the main residence and adjacent to its carriage house, was part of the Ragland
Mansion complex. Now the house is home to a Tidewater-area native who,
more than 21 years ago, moved to Petersburg to be near family. She
has filled her house with cherished family pieces and decorated rooms for
family members who come and go. A grandfather clock in the foyer and
the table, chairs and pictures in the dining room are family heirlooms. In
her kitchen, the homeowner has displayed old English tins that belonged to
her Scottish father-in-law. Family photos abound in her mother’s
bedroom, striking in its décor of black-and-white toile set against
burgundy walls.
Three comfortable bedrooms and a cozy sitting room are positioned around
the second-floor landing. Most interesting is her son’s bedroom,
decorated with railroad memorabilia acquired from her father, an employee of
C&O Railroad. Continuing this railroad theme, all the artwork is
of trains, some drawn by the homeowner’s nephew. Oak furniture
and a white, taupe and black color scheme effect a rich, masculine feel. A
second-floor balcony, complete with ceiling fan, rocking chairs and porch swing,
overlooks the backyard and patio. From the center of the patio, a tall
dogwood reaches skyward, its boughs brushing the railings of the balcony. In
the backyard, garden statuary and birdhouses are nestled amid roses, Dusty
Miller, rosemary, hydrangea, wisteria and camellias. The dependencies,
once slaves’ quarters, have been restored and are now used for storage.
Judith White Hoyle, owner. A demonstration on container gardening
will be held here at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., given by members of The Petersburg
Garden Club.
TRINITY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, 214 SOUTH SYCAMORE STREET. A dominant
fixture on the Petersburg skyline and a prominent element in the Poplar Lawn
Historic District, Trinity United Methodist Church was constructed as the
successor for the congregation at Market Street Methodist Episcopal Church,
South. The cornerstone for the church was laid in 1921, and seven years
later, the first service was held in the completed sanctuary. Constructed
of Indiana limestone, the two-story Georgian Revival structure is distinguished
by its colossal three-bay portico and pedimented roof from which rises a
three-tier bell tower.
The noted church architect Rossel Edward Mitchell in his design of Trinity
Church was inspired by the drawings of James Gibbs’ St. Martin-in-the
Fields, near London, possibly the most influential Georgian structure in the
English-speaking world. A departure from Gibbs is the prominent rose
window flanked by shell niches centered under the portico above the front doors,
perhaps the most eye-catching feature on the front façade. Overhead
is the narthex is a glorious vaulted ellipse, often overlooked. Items
of historical interest are displayed throughout this vestibule. In the
north wing of the narthex is an Empire rosewood melodeon, the first musical
instrument used during worship in a Petersburg church. In the opposite
wing of the narthex is the church bell from Union Street Methodist Church that
called together the first conference of Methodist Episcopal Church, South in
1846.
The arcade, lines of columns and their supporting arches span two stories
and are aligned with the galleries on either side of the nave. Taller
Palladian windows light the upper level of the sanctuary, and smaller rectangular
windows illuminate the main floor, spaced alternately with the interior columns
and arches. The chancel and altarpiece are defined by the grand Estey
organ and pipe casings. Because Trinity Church is designed to offer superior
acoustics, it does justice to this incomparable instrument. The near-perfect
acoustics make Trinity a desirable venue for many musical recitals. The
majestic painting of “The Transfiguration of Christ” on the rear
wall of the nave is best viewed as one exits the church. This painting,
oil on canvas over plaster, casts a radiance over the sanctuary. The
painting is unsigned, and all records pertaining to this project have been
lost. Consequently, the artist remains anonymous.
MARIE BOWEN GARDENS. In 1967, the Raleigh
Parish Garden Club selected as a club project a lovely, wooded area located
in the Walnut Hill neighborhood bounded by Arch Street, Arch Circle and Fairfax
Street. Azaleas, flowering trees, camellias, rhododendrons and other plants
compatible with a naturalized setting are featured. Mrs. Bowen donated
many plants to this site. During her lifetime, she maintained the Fairfax
side of the garden, donating her time and hard work to the project. Upon
her death in 1979, the city council allowed the park to be named The Marie
Bowen Garden as a tribute to this dedicated gardener.
Since 1979, Raleigh Parish has continually added plant specimens and
has installed and maintained a sprinkler system. Also the Boy Scouts,
with the club’s financial assistance, constructed a Chippendale bridge
and erected a stone waterway to control erosion. Recently, the wildflower garden
has been re-established and plantings identified.